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Inattention has its momentum; why doesn’t attention have the same momentum?||Acharya Prashant (2013)
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5 years ago
Attention
Inattention
Momentum
The 'I'
Mind
Awareness
Continuity
Memory
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why inattention has momentum while attention does not. He explains that momentum is only needed when there is a movement or continuity. Inattention is something that comes and goes, much like a disease. Attention, on the other hand, cannot have continuity, momentum, a lifespan, or longevity because it is ever-present and unchanging. To illustrate this, Acharya Prashant uses the analogy of light in a room. He states that even if you are in the deepest disturbance, attention remains in its own place. You can create deep chaos and turmoil in the room, or you can establish absolute peace, but the light in the room will remain in its place, unaffected by the activities. Whatever you do in the room, the light itself is not going to change. Similarly, attention is not a new thing that arrives; it is the constant background against which the mind's disturbances, or inattention, play out. When the questioner suggests that "I" become available to attention, Acharya Prashant clarifies that this sense of "I" is synonymous with inattention. It is not the "I" that becomes available to attention; rather, inattention is what comes and goes. The problem is not that attention comes and goes, but that the "I," which is inattention, reappears. Regarding the question of why this "I" returns after disappearing, Acharya Prashant advises questioning it at the very moment it reappears. The act of asking the "I," "Why have you come?" is itself an act of attention, and this inquiry dissolves the "I." He explains that the "I" returns precisely because one forgets to question it in the present moment. The solution is not to analyze the problem from memory but to confront the "I" with attention as soon as it arises.